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Understanding Taxonomy: Naming and Classifying Organisms

Explore the science of taxonomy through Aristotle's classification methods to Linnaeus' binomial nomenclature, species concepts, and the six kingdoms of life. Discover why taxonomy is essential for scientific clarity and evolutionary studies.

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Understanding Taxonomy: Naming and Classifying Organisms

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  1. Taxonomy The science of naming organisms.

  2. Aristotle • Plant or animal? • If an animal, does it • Fly • Swim • Crawl • Simple classifications • Used common names

  3. Carolus Linnaeus • Described organisms with two word names, instead of polynomials • Developed binomial nomenclature • First word = genus name • Second word = species name

  4. Why binomial nomenclature? • Much easier than a 10+ word name under old “polynomial system” • Same name no matter where you go • Less confusion • Binomial = SCIENTIFIC NAME

  5. Scientific Names You Need to Know • Homo sapiens • Canis lupus • Felis domesticus • Pan pan

  6. Taxonomic hierarchy • Names organisms and their relationships from very broad to very specific

  7. All organisms classified in a hierarchy • Kingdom (broadest) • Phylum • Class • Order • Family • Genus • Species (most specific)

  8. Notes assignment: • Look up the classification for humans for all seven hierarchies and write them below.

  9. What is a species anyway? • Biological species concept • A group of actually or potentially breeding natural groups that are reproductively isolated from other groups. • Ernst Mayr, 1924 • BSC’s problems • Hybrids • Sterile offspring of two different species • Asexual organisms

  10. How many are out there? • Scientists currently estimate that • There are 10 million species worldwide • Over 5 million live in the tropics • Most unnamed species are small or microscopic

  11. Why is taxonomy useful? • Helps prevent confusion among scientists • Helps to show how organisms are related • Can be used to reconstruct phylogenies – evolutionary histories – of an organism or group

  12. A note on cladograms • Graph showing when different groups diverged from a common ancestral line • Points where they diverge are often noted with a feature that was different between ancestral group and a “new” feature in the group that split off.

  13. Bird Cladogram

  14. The 6 kingdoms • Prokaryotes (Used to be 1 kingdom, Monera) • Archaebacteria • Eubacteria • Eukaryotes • Fungi • Protista • Animal • Plantae

  15. Overview of the 6 kingdoms • Archaebacteria • Unicellular • Live in extreme environments • Prokaryotic • Eubacteria • Unicellular • Prokaryotic • “Common bacteria”

  16. Overview of the 6 kingdoms • Protista • Eukaryotic • Unicellular or colonial • Lots of different life styles • Fungi • Cell walls made of chitin • Eukaryotic • Multicellular • External heterotrophs

  17. Overview of the 6 kingdoms • Plantae • Eukaryotic & Multicellular • Cell walls made of cellulose • Autotrophic • Animalia • Eukaryotic & Multicellular • No cell walls • Internal heterotrophs

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